


Who Wouldn't Want to be a Princess?

by Tangerine_Catnip



Series: She is the Future of Humans and Monsters [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Frisk, F/M, Female Frisk, Future Fic, POV Female Character, POV First Person, Romantic Comedy, fifteen years later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-25 09:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4954786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangerine_Catnip/pseuds/Tangerine_Catnip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story in which Frisk learns about power, responsibility, the line between friendship and romance, what happens when that line is crossed, staying true to yourself, and how much work curling your hair actually entails. </p><p>There's also a pretty sweet tiara in here to. It looks like the one from that animated movie with the lost Russian princess. Yeah, that one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Save file 1

Maybe it's just my imagination, but somehow the air seems different on your birthday. Though it could just be the anticipation of knowing that everyone knows it's your birthday and that they could seek to remind you of this fact at any moment.

Not to make a big deal out of it. But it's probably worse for me. Since everyone else who has a birthday lives around people who also have birthdays.

But monsters don't really have birthdays. The reasons vary, starting with the fact that many monster species have blurry lines around the whole concept of being born, and ending with the fact the monster calendar was completely divorced from the human one. Which was understandable since a calendar based on the rotations of a sun you couldn't see would be a tiny bit impractical.

They could see the sun now of course. But a decade and a half in sunlight was hardly going to erase thousands of years of tradition.

So that left me as the only birthday haver in the city. Well, not the only one, we have a small human population. But none of them had saved all of monster-kind when they were a kid. So my birthday is an official holiday of sorts.

Occasionally I wonder if some monsters even know that all humans have birthdays, or if they think it's unique to me. I can't really blame them though, since if everyone got as big a fuss made over them the humans would never stop partying.

So far, this birthday has mostly been pillow and blanket based, since I haven't come out of my room yet. I don't really feel up to it.

Although, the smell of cinnamon-butterscotch pie drifting in from the kitchen is making its own convincing argument.

My tummy growls and I decide to get up. As much as I want to mope there are things I'm looking forward to today. Besides, it's not fair for me to spoil everyone else's fun, even if it's supposed to be my birthday.

It's a little cold, so I try to move as fast as I can once the blankets are off. I pull an oversized striped sweater over my head. It's red and blue like the one I was wearing when I fell into the underground, only several sizes bigger.

Tori makes me a new one every year. Well, she makes it in the sense that she supplies the magic to the needles that knit it while she reads.

Over time her memory has gotten a little fuzzy and the stripes very in color and size from year to year. No one ever seems to notice though, they all see the same kid as always. Even if I'm twice the height I used to be and have the generous proportions and curves that would signal to other humans that I had reached the end of my adolescence.

But monsters weren't humans, and in monster years I was still barely a newborn. The child of the kingdom. The young hope of all monster kind.

A smooth my short brown hair in the mirror so it's almost covering my eyes. I tell myself that I don't mind. I can do more good for everyone by being a symbol. Monsters always need to have hope and if I can help provide it for them then I should.

I tug on my jeans and sway back and forth in front of my reflection. At least tori makes the sweaters with enough room in the front, even though she only had a vague idea why my chest grew so large I needed a whole separate undergarment.

Bra shopping with your adoptive goat mother was one of those moments that seemed a lot funnier in hindsight.

One last thing to do. I pull my lips back and give my best smile. The hair hiding my eyes helps mask how fake it is, but my lips are still a tad stiff.

Come on Frisk, you can do this. For Tori.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door of my room. I must have taken longer than I thought I did. Last time Tori had waited for me to come out of my room.

"Ah. Come in..." I call, taking one last look in the mirror to try to perfect my smile.

Toriel opens the door, holding a tray in her hands. In the middle is a slice of pie with orange juice and a wrapped parcel on either side of the plate

"Rise and shine sunshine~" Toriel greets. I can tell she's a little thrown off by the fact I'm not still in bed but she takes it in stride.

She dropped the tray off on my dresser and leans in for a hug. She used to have to kneel down, but now I'm only a few inches shorter then her.

"I'm surprised you managed to sleep so late with all the excitement this morning. Don't you want to hear the results of the republic referendum?"

I already know the results, but I nod anyway. Toriel opens her mouth, poised on the brink of delivering the news.

"Oh no wait. You should open your gift first."

I groan out loud. Walking over to my bed and sitting down on it as Tori grabs the package from the tray and drops it in my lap. I gently pick the tape away from the corners. I get my own bit of revenge by opening it as slowly as I can as a possibly can. Tori does the same to me when it's time to open her Christmas gifts. The more excited I am the slower she manages to go.

Once I peel all the paper off and fold it nicely into a small square, I'm left with a medium sized leather box. It's been recently cleaned but you can still see traces of the thick layer of dust that used to cover it.

The latch is ornate and has tiny pictographic inscriptions of what I think are boss monsters. They look like Tori and Asgore at any rate.

Finally, I have nothing else to do but open it. I lift the lid. Preparing the smile I had practiced. Inside, nestled in a bed of silk, is a golden tiara. Cut diamonds arraigned in perfectly straight rows getting longer and longer until they reach the point in the middle. Giving off the impression of a glittering wave of moonlight.

Toriel reached forward and picked it gently from the box.

"Since everyone has decided they want a royal family. I think it's time we make your place in it official. We're hoping to have your coronation sometime this month. Until then, though, this is yours."

Toriel places the crown on my head. It presses down on my messy hair, forcing my bangs down further into my eyes. I'm surprised it fits as well as it does when I don't have any horns to hold it in place. Toriel takes a step back. She looks so proud of me. But I haven't done anything to deserve it.

I break out into my smile and she smiles back. Seeing hers suddenly I feel like I have the courage to really mean mine. I stand up as straight as I can, trying to look royal.

"It looks perfect on you, your majesty." Toriel says, laughing as she looks me up and down.

"Hey, you're a queen you know, so I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to call me majesty."

"Yes, I know, but I've been a queen forever and you've never been a princess before." Toriel counters. "Now eat your pie my child, you've got a big day ahead of you."

I nod and settled on the floor near the dresser to eat. Tori smiles, pausing to pull open the curtains before she leaves the room. I blink up into the sudden sunlight. I close my eyes tight against it as I place a fork full of pie in my mouth.

Well, that's one mistake of the day fixed. Now I just need to do that a few more times.

When I was younger, I bet I would have loved the idea of having my birthday twice. But right now I want nothing more than to crawl back into bed and stay there.

I catch my reflection again and realize tori never took the crown back. She did in the last timeline, but that was because she thought I didn't like it.

Does she want me to wear it all day? Or maybe, just generally for the rest of my life.

We both know that I'm going to die before her. So princess is really more of a cosmetic title. I'll be a princess when I'm an old lady. This same gold crown perched on my gray hair. Not that I would even want to be queen. But the fact that I never will be just reminds me how out of place I am.

I take the crown off my head and stare down at it. I can see my reflection in the jewels. Refracted on each of the cut sides.

"Oh Asriel, this was your destiny, not mine." I whisper pulling my legs up to my chest. I try to imagine a different timeline. Where it's him waking up on his birthday and being presented with the crown.

I place the shimmering circlet back on my head. I know there's no point in trying to regain what was lost. If wearing this crown is what everyone wants of me. If it gives them hope. Then I'll wear it.

* * *

 

I check the time on my phone as I walk through our front yard, leaving the little cottage behind. You would never expect such a cute little home was actually the royal palace. But that was my Tori. She wouldn't stand for anything larger. Not with only the two of us to fill it.

There was nothing she hated more than houses that felt empty. And after living on her own in the ruins for so many years I couldn't blame her.

Even though it was the world's most modest royal palace, it still had prime real estate in the middle of the city. Well, inside a park in the middle of the city, just so it didn't look quite as ridiculous compared to the tall buildings and paved streets.

If you looked to the east you could see Mt. Ebott towering over the city of new-new home. (We had a vote on the name. There were better options, but I guess everyone was nostalgic for Asgore's lack of naming talent.)

As it turns out, entire civilizations are kind of difficult to move. So the first monster city founded on the surface lay in the shadow of their former prison.

By human standards the city had practically sprung up overnight. But most of the buildings had just been moved from the underground to the surface. Of course they also had to be modified after that since no one really considered roof waterproofing an issue while underground, but on the whole it had been a success.

Not everyone from the underground had moved to the new city though. Some had left to seek a future in human society, others simply wanted to live in the wild or in the sea. But everyone still needed a place to come back to. A place where the old rules sill applied.

Maybe one day monsters and humans would truly exist side by side. But that was probably beyond the reach of my lifetime. For now, though, this was more than good enough. The local human kingdoms had even gifted a fair share of land around the mountain to make a country out of.

I take the short way out of the park. I feel the crown weighing heavy on my brow. I know Tori has already made the announcement about my new title. Though to be honest, it would be hard to get any more popular than I already was. Every monster alive when the barrier broke knew my name thanks to the magical side effects.

The walk last time I did today hadn't been so bad though, so maybe this time…

A huge crowd of monsters is gathered on the corner ahead of me. I take a few steps forward, wondering what everyone's so excited about.

Then I hear the music and remember my birthday parade is a thing that happens. I had almost forgotten about it since I convinced Tori I didn't need to attend five years ago.

I knew with certainty though that if I was caught anywhere close to it, I would be sucked in. Like some kind of party-based black hole. Everyone would want me up there and waving.

Fighting things was not in my nature, so they would get their way if push came to shove. So I was left with only one recourse.

Run the fuck away.

I took the nearest alleyway, holding my crown in place with one hand as I sprinted passed garbage cans and splashed through shallow puddles of what was hopefully water. I heard a voice I didn't recognize calling my name and I sped up as much as I could. Hopefully whoever it was would think they made a mistake, or at least not hate me for running away from them.

I don't want to disappoint anyone, but the fear of getting pulled back into the spotlight was stronger. I round the corner and take a moment to glance around. Even though the parade had caught me by surprise, I hadn't just run in a random direction. The shortcut sans had shown me was only a few more blocks away.

And it was a real shortcut to, not one of his usual tricks where I would blink my eyes and suddenly end up halfway across town.

I wander down the next street, looking up so I don't miss the fire escape ladder. I finally find it and the tiny cardboard box full of stones tucked behind the nearby dumpster. I pick one up in my hand. It's just the right weight and size for a projectile. I step back, take aim and fire. The rock clangs against the release mechanism.

The ladder comes down with a loud bang. I scurry up it, climbing until I reach the first balcony. Once up it's a simple matter of reeling back up and resetting the mechanism to hide what I've done.

The space underground was very limited and whoever was on the planning committee for new-new home apparently hadn't seen any reason to change the compact floor plan when moving the city to the surface.

I vaulted over the edge of the balcony and onto the next, careful not to upset the potted plants dotted around the railings.

I felt a little bad about how poor Tori would flip if she saw me doing this. But even if the worst did happen, she would never know.

Still, I couldn't SAVE as regularly as I used to and dying had its own price. I could lose weeks or sometimes months that I would have to do all over again. And I didn't really like doing that, not just for myself but for everyone else. Deja vu wasn't inherently dangerous, but it just felt wrong to subject everyone to massive doses of it.

So I was careful with my risks. Maybe not as careful as Tori would like, but a girl still had to live once and a while.

I jumped a few more balconies and landed on the roof of an MTT-Brand Burger Emporium. I feel the crown on my head start to slip and I manage to grab it before it hits the concrete roof. I completely forgot I was still wearing it.

I stare at the crown for a moment. What the hell kind of princess am I? Jumping around in my stupid frumpy sweater and nearly braking the crown jewels in dirty alleyways.

I tuck the crown into my backpack. There's nothing I can do about it now. The only way out of here is to keep going.

I back up a few steps and make a running leap for the next bank of balconies. Grasping the railing with both hands tightly when it slams into my chest. As far as sans' shortcuts went, this one required an uncharacteristic amount of exercise.

Of course, whenever he took it with me, he would simply use his gravity powers to float alongside as I jumped and clung to the sides of buildings like a hyperactive spider.

Well, not quite a spider, if I was one of them, I wouldn't have to worry about my hands getting sweaty and losing my grip.

Another block of balconies and I was finally there. I leaned around the corner catching sight of the boxy two story house.

It was still only mid-autumn, but the roof of the house was covered in a thick layer of snow just like always. The only explanation I could get for this was that sans was just too lazy to clear it off.

Cheery Christmas lights ran along the edge of the roof, as well as on the balcony jutting out from the side and one half of the porch.

I swung my weight up and crouched on the railing of the last balcony. Taking in a deep breath before kicking off and launching myself through the air. A single second of total weightlessness passed, then I crashed headfirst into the fluffy snow. I spread out my arms as I started to slide down the slanted roof, pulling as much snow down with me as I could.

I land on my back on the front lawn. More or less protected by my soft cocoon of fresh fluffy snow. Finally, I have a second to rest. After running and jumping all the way here, the snow feels too good to describe. I lean back into the cold embrace and let my eyes close.

"Well, would you look at that? Autumn has hardly started and you're already having a nice fall."

I don't even bother opening my eyes. I can't help cracking a smile though.

"Hello to you to sans." I reply, pushing myself up. I blink the flakes from my eyes and see he's offering me a skeletal hand. I look at the hand dubiously. I don't see anything in it, but that could change the very second I take it.

I grab his hand anyway and I feel the heal of my palm press into something soft.

pppppppppppffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

sans pulls me up as the fart noise fades away. Despite the fact sans is a half foot shorter than me he's able to lift most of my weight, at least until I'm steady on my feet again.

"see, i told you that one never gets old." sans says, turning his hand to show off the tiny whoopi cushion. "and you always fall for it to. hilarious."

I roll my eyes at him and brush off my sweater. It's only been a few minutes, but I'm already feeling better than I have all day. I look at him, taking in the blue jacket and the worn out slippers. He hasn't changed one bit. Not in fifteen years I've known him.

I know sometimes people refer to calming forces in their lives as rocks, but if a regular calming force is a rock then sans is the whole mountain. Strong enough to support one eccentric brother, an overly determined human, a very high strung fish lady, an extremely dorky lizard, and a queen who sometimes makes puns even worse than his.

I'm really lucky to have someone like him in my life. And to think without my ability to SAVE I might have totally ruined it.

"hey what's with that look?" sans asks.

I blink, my train of thought ramming to a halt. Damn, I was doing it again. It would really be nice, if just for once, every single one of my emotions didn't end up on my face.

"Ah. It's nothing. Just nostalgia." I reply, semi-truthfully.

"I hear that. seems like just yesterday I found you wandering all alone in the backwoods of snowden. how old are you in human years now?" sans's asks.

"Twenty three."

Sans tilts his head to the side, then shrugs it off. I know the number doesn't mean much to him. He's probably taken naps longer than that.

"oh yeah, just remembered. i'm supposed to be calling you 'you're royal highnesses' or something now aren't i?"

"Please don't." I reply. Glancing down to the slow covered front lawn. I try to keep the laugh in my voice, but just the thought of sans calling me by some stuffy title makes me want to punch the nearest wall.

"tori said you were wearing the crown."

"Yeah, I just put it away so I didn't drop it."

I slide my backpack off my shoulders and pull out the circlet. There's some smudged dirt on my fingers and in my hands the shiny metal and precious stones look like plastic. A toy for children to play pretend.

I look over to sans. I wish I could read his expression as well as he reads mine. I wonder if he's thinking about all this.

If I know my sans, he probably doesn't give a single flying fuck.

And somehow, knowing he doesn't care, I feel like I don't have to either.

I drop the crown on my head, and straighten it as best I can without a mirror. Hopefully it doesn't look too ridiculous. Sans might say something if it was, then again probably not.

"come on then, papyrus is dying to meet the new princess." Sans says. Taking me gently by the hand and walking the two of us around the front door and its holiday wreath adornment.

"Yeah, I know..." I reply. Not realizing my mistake until I hear sans's ask

"you know?"

"um… well, I mean I could guess. Given how much he likes royal things. He wanted to be captain of the royal guard and all that." I add hurriedly.

sans pauses for a second and looks at me. Then keeps walking.

But he knows and I know that I've been caught red handed. I could never fool sans, not even for a second. I don't think he gets particularly annoyed when I redo a day or so, but he always makes sure I know he can tell what I'm up to.

Times like this though, I wish I could just tell him why I needed to. It was for both our sakes this time, and I'm sure if I could only have a second to explain he would understand.

Once I had tried to tell sans everything I knew about determination and SAVE. But before I could get more than a few words out he pressed his bony fingers to my lips.

I have what he said next saved in my mind, the memory so strong I can still hear his voice when I remember it.

'it's alright kid. i trust that you're doing what you think is right. so for now, i don't want you spilling your secrets, not when i'm not ready to share some of my own. it's only fair, y'know.'

And so we stayed in a kind of limbo. Each having only a vague idea of what the other was capable of. Testing the boundaries every once and a while, and sometimes being rewarded with a glimmer of insight.

I understood why sans wanted it this way. He was the type of person who refused to share his emotional burdens with anyone. The walls he built between the person he showed on the outside and who he was on the inside were starting to crumble. But it would take time and perseverance to help the cracks spread.

sans stops on the doorstep and stoop down to hug him from behind. I don't know if he can feel a difference depending on how tight I hug him but I squeeze anyway.

"and what did I do to deserve this?" sans asks, with a laugh. Gingerly patting my arm. His other hand on the doorknob.

"You haven't wished me happy birthday yet..." I reply with a shrug, deflecting the question.

"mmm… i suppose i haven't." Sans muses. Opening the door and leading us both into the living room. I hear the sounds of pots and pans clanging from the kitchen.

"Hey papyrus, our guest is here." Sans calls. I hear the clang of a pan being dropped on the floor and I barely resist the urge to take shelter behind sans from the oncoming wave of papyrus excitement. He burst out of the kitchen, his usual super hero like outfit covered by an apron that has the phrase 'bone- appetit' crocheted on it.

"HUMAN! I... I MEAN YOUR GRACE, UH, YOUR HIGHNESS, YOUR IMPERIAL GREATNESS."

Papyrus gets down on one knee and bows so deep his skull nearly hits the floor.

"Uh.. Frisk will still do fine papyrus." I reply. Then just for his benefit I add. "You are, after all, one of my inner circle. So there's no need for formalities."

Papyrus lifts his head up from his bow, a huge smile on his face.

"I AM AREN'T I? ONE OF THE CLOSE FRIENDS OF THE PRINCESS." He says, bouncing back up to his feet. A faint smell of burning is wafting in from the kitchen and I wonder if I should mention it.

"OH AND HAPPINESS OF BIRTHDAY-HAVING DAYS TO YOU. I'VE MADE YOU SOMETHING SPECIAL-"

sans cuts his brother off with a gentle tug on the edge of his glove. Tilting his head to the side to indicate the ominous clouds.

"AHHH BUT FIRST I'VE GOT TO AH… CHECK ON SOMETHING. YES SOMETHING. DO NOT WORRY IT'S NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SURPRISE, JUST AN UNRELATED TASK THAT REQUIRES THE ATTENTION OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

I nod, holding out until he's back in the kitchen before I start giggling. Sans smirks, or his usual smile looks like a smirk now, and settled down on the couch. I dropped down beside him. The sudden weight shift bouncing my skeleton friend a good half foot in the air. He landed and sprawled sideways, his skull landing in my lap.

Lucky for him though I was the exact opposite of skin and bones and my thighs made a fantastic pillow. I smiled down at him and patted him happily on the top of his skull. Sans seemed to think about it for a moment, but decided he was comfortable enough like this not to bother moving.

"sooooo… are you going to pull another birthday prank on me this year?" I ask.

"i was planning to." Sans admits with a shrug. "but i think it loses something if the person being pranked isn't totally surprised by it. so it's not really worth the effort to do it again."

"Oh… Yeah, you're probably right." I reply. I feel a pang of guilt for taking away his memories of it. But as usual sans doesn't seem to mind. Again, I barely resist the need to tell him that I had to do it. I had to have this day back, a second chance to not mess things up.

"i bet you had the best look on your face when it did surprise you though." Sans says.

"Yep. I totally did. It was one of your best." I agree.

I wrap my arms around his chest and squeeze, nuzzling into his clavicle. I can tell why this hoodie is his favorite. It's got the kind of softness that only comes from being well worn.

"not that i'm complaining, but you seem like a little bit of a cuddle bug today. anything you'd like to share?" sans asked.

I was so distracted it took a second for his question to sink in. I hadn't even realized how strange I was acting. In the current continuity sans and I were still friends, but that was it. He hadn't made a move yet and I hadn't fucked it all up.

"Ah.. no... Sorry. Just nostalgia again." I lie, lifting my head and staring in the opposite direction so sans can't read my face. "I'm just really glad I have such good friends."

"un hun.."sans replies. I'm sure if he had eyebrows, they would both be raised as far as they could go.

Lucky for me papyrus reappeared carrying three plates piled high with small lumpy brown things. It took me a second to realize they were pancakes.

"ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH, THE TRADITIONAL FOOD OF THE HUMAN BIRTHDAY IS CAKE. SO I HAVE MADE YOU MANY CAKES!" papyrus said proudly, placing the biggest pile of pancakes on the coffee table in front of me. Half burned candles were sticking out of the pancake on top.

"AND I EVEN MADE THEM INTO DIFFERENT SHAPES. SEE HERE, THIS ONE IS IN THE STUNNING VISAGE OF YOURS TRULY."

I squinted at the pancake he was pointing at it was a bit like trying to see a shape in a cloud. If I squinted just the right way I could see something that looked about the same shape as papyrus' skull.

"AND THIS ONE IS SANS."

Papyrus pointed to a squat looking pancake that actually did look a tiny bit like sans. Especially in the cheekbone area.

"I TRIED TO MAKE ONE OF YOU TOO. BUT HUMANS ARE COMPLICATED SO I MADE YOU A DOG INSTEAD."

I had to hand it to him. The tiny protuberance from the top of my pile of pancakes did look like ears.

"AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST-"

With a flash of his scarf papyrus produces a box from… somewhere?

It looks a little dusty, so wherever it had been previously it had been there for a while.

"IT'S HUMAN CELEBRATION JUICE! I ACTUALLY GOT THIS YEARS AGO BUT SANS SAID YOU WERE TOO YOUNG TO DRINK IT AND THEN WE BOTH FORGOT ABOUT IT FOR A BIT…"

Papyrus trailed off and glanced over at sans.

"SHE'S OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK IT NOW, RIGHT?"

Sans nodded confirmation. And papyrus smiled. He placed the box down and opened the top. There were several brown glass bottles inside. Papyrus handed one to me and offered another to sans, who refused it in favor of a ketchup bottle he had stashed in the sofa cushions.

Papyrus sat down beside us and popped open the top of a beer bottle with his finger bones. I tried to do the same, but the metal stuck into my skin and I had to pull away before I made myself bleed.

"ALLOW ME YOUR MAJESTY." Papyrus offered, reaching over and popping off the top of with the middle bone of his thumb.

"Why thank you brave sir papyrus." I replied with a smirk. "And thanks for making me the cakes too. It was really thoughtful of you."

I shift up onto my knees but it's still a bit of a stretch until I'm tall enough to kiss papyrus on the forehead.

Papyrus blushes, not quite sure how he manages it, but he sure does it. I laugh and hold up my bottle.

"Cheers!" I say, then glance around at my two skeleton friends and see their looks of confusion.

"Um. When I say that, you're supposed to bang our bottles together and say it too." I explain. "It's a human thing."

The brothers nod and we clink our glasses together. Papyrus does it a tiny bit too enthusiastically and I I'm pretty sure he nearly cracked mine. Regardless, I sit back and chug a few sips of beer that might just be the tiniest bit stale. Hard to tell since it tastes pretty nasty when it's fresh as well. At least all the kinds I've tried.

Papyrus makes a slight choking sound and I move out of the way just in time to avoid getting any of it on me. Another tiny thing to thank SAVE for.

"THIS IS AWFUL! WHY DO THE HUMANS LIKE THIS?!"

Sans shrugs and swallows his mouthful of ketchup.

"It's an acquired taste. How about for now we just eat these wonderful cakes?" I offer. Picking up my fork and sticking it into the top pancake. I glance around the table, suddenly realizing we're missing something.

"Do we have any maple syrup?" I ask.

"WHAT'S MAPLE SYRUP?"

"Ah, never mind."

* * *

 

Before I knew it four whole hours had passed. We hardly got up from the couch the whole time. Sans had procured some of the oldest and shittyest human movies he could get his finger bones on and we watched them all. Sans and I were constantly trying to out-sass one another as we riffed on everything from the set design to the plot twists. Papyrus, bless his heart, he tried his best too. But he's just a little too sweet for it.

I would have stayed all night if I could, but apparently Tori had made them promise to have me back at the palace before sunset.

The streets of new-new home were blissfully quiet. Apparently most of the birthday festivities had calmed down. At least until the evening parties got underway.

I felt wonderful, so much so I could hardly remember why I hadn't had a good morning. Redoing this day had made it so much better.. Only… something was still missing. Wasn't it?

And then I realize what's been nagging me the whole walk home. sans didn't talk to me. Well, actually did talk to me, quite a lot actually. But not about anything we don't normally discuss.

I must have messed it up again. But everything seemed like it went so well. Things were better this time around, but they were also different. No matter how hard I tried I could never make one day exactly like it had been before. There were just too many tiny things that turned into bigger things.

Was there something different that made sans change his mind? I could think of a hundred reasons, the biggest one being that he knew I was trying to fix something about today. Did sans think that I was trying to prevent him from telling me how he feels?

I stopped walking and stared down at my worn out sneakers. The laces were undone again, but I didn't really feel like doing anything about that.

My first instinct was that I had to go back, but that wouldn't actually solve anything. Would it?

No. no, this was fine. Everything was just fine. What mattered more than anything was that the friendship was still intact.

I didn't freak out and make sans think I hated him and as long as that was true I didn't need a do over.

Besides. If television and movies had taught me anything, it's that there was no better way to poison a friendship than to get it mixed up with all of… that…

Hell, I had managed to do it in all of ten minutes last time.

My hand raises to the weight on my head and my fingertips make contact with the cold metal and gemstones.

Wasn't this what being a princess was all about? I mean, I'd only ever read human stories about what being a princess was like, but if I remembered correctly all the best princesses and queens were the ones that put their feelings second and the kingdom first. Infatuation would pass eventually, just like any emotion.

Though there were also plenty of stories where the princess ran away with her handsome knight and still got a happily ever after.

I meant to continue my thought, but suddenly the image of sans riding a pure white horse and dressed in traditional prince charming get-up flits into my imagination and I nearly keel over with giggles. He would also have to have some flowing blond hair too. Just like, a wig over his skull.

I shake my head. Taking deep breaths to calm down again. I feel better. Just enough that the small smile on my lips is genuine.

I pick up the pace a bit. Tori probably had plans for tonight and I don't want to ruin them by being late. A soft autumn breeze ruffles my hair, a few stray leaves make little crackling sounds as they tumble head over stem down the empty street.

This quiet moment, and the knowledge that everything is as it should be, fills me with determination.

I can feel it rise in my chest, making me lean my shoulders back and stand up straight. For a moment I hesitate, but my instincts are telling me it's the right thing to do. I need to set this in stone so I won't be tempted to go back.

I hear that little sound. Like a cell phone beep.

 

**Frisk          LV 1            135780:15:45**

**New-New Home – Streets**

**File saved.**


	2. Save file 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I just wanted to say thanks for all the support. Normally I try to get back to everyone's comments, but I got a little tongue tied and I figured you all would be happier if I focused on writing the fic instead. I've really only been in small fandoms before so it's a tiny bit overwhelming. I really appreciate everyone's comments though.

A cold chill passes down my spine. I glance between Toriel and Mettaton. They're sitting at the kitchen table, a pair of steaming tea cups between them.

They're trying to look innocent, but I've already spotted the bag lying half open next to the teapot. It's overflowing with tiny plastic tubes, and pallets of eye shadow big enough to recreate Renaissance paintings with.

I knew this was coming. But I had been hoping I would have more time. After all, my coronation wasn't for months.

But I could tell by the steady look in Toriel's eyes that she was planning to put her foot down on this.

There was no escape for me this time. Not without suffering through the one, the only, the dreaded...

The princess makeover.

"So this is what I have to work with, Hun?"

Mettaton stands up with a flourish and struts over to me. A swagger in his step that would have given him a well-deserved hip injury if he wasn't a robot. I try to stand still but I can feel my fingers trembling.

In a fight, I could totally take everything Mettaton could throw at me. But I'm not sure the same could be said when he was armed with countless shades of blush and foundation.

"Well, It could be worse, just barely at any rate." Mettaton comments. His mental heals click across the hardwood floor as he walks a little circle around me. Sizing up all the angles.

"Is that... mud?!" he asks, pointing at my cheek. I raise a hand up and rub the side of my face until I find the spot he mentioned.

"Oh no.. I think that's chocolate. Papyrus put some in the pancakes." I reply.

Somehow this revelation only makes Mettaton's eyes open even wider with shock.

"Alright! First things first, you need a bath. Probably two, just to be safe." Mettaton decides.

Toriel appears at my side on queue. She takes my hand gently and I'm glad enough to get away from Mettaton that I let her lead me back out into the hall.

"Oh, and Toriel, darling, put the curlers in as soon as her hair is washed. They'll need all the time they can get if we're going to meet the deadline." Mettaton calls after us.

"Deadline?" I ask. Looking desperately at Toriel for answers.

"It's a surprise. Just go with it."

Toriel winks at me and I nod back. Once Tori gets it in her mind something is meant to be a surprise almost nothing can prise more details out of her.

* * *

 

Before today I had always assumed that curlers were big bulky cylinders that had some kind of symbiotic relationship with that machine they put over your head at the salon.

But what Toriel ended up waving into my hair looked a lot more like slightly rigid strips of plastic. It still looked silly though, and it took almost a whole hour to get them in place.

Now I was sitting in the kitchen in nothing but a fluffy bathrobe, sandwiched between Toriel and Mettaton as they took turns fixing my hair or makeup.

I flinch as Mettaton came at me with a pencil in his hand. The point heading right towards my eye.

"Darling, if I have to tell you to hold still again, I might just snap and tie you down." Mettaton warned.

"Well then quit it with the sharp things!" I protested. "It's just make up, I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to hurt."

"Pain is beauty and beauty is pain. And besides, it's just eyeliner. The only thing it can break is hearts."

Mettaton leaned over and pointed to the dark lines under his eyes with one delicate finger.

"See it just goes around your eyes. Like so."

Up close, it's painfully clear that lines he's referring to are actually made of black sealer, meant to fill in the gap between his ocular input devices and the rest of his face. I decide not to mention it and try to hold still as Mettaton runs the side of the pencil along the bottom of my eyelid. It feels really weird, but at least he's quick about it.

"It's such a shame we couldn't film this for my makeover show. I would have called it, Transforming the monster princess: from beast to beauty. Everyone would have tuned in to see it."

I'm not allowed to move my head, but judging by Mettaton's expression I have the distinct feeling Toriel is giving him a very disapproving look over my shoulder.

"Ah... that's, uh.. Just exaggeration, of course. You're gorgeous all the time Frisk, we're only making you look more... Ready for a formal engagement."

"You're going to be in the spotlight a lot more from now on, but there is no need to rush into it." Toriel added, stepping in to stop Mettaton from further abuse of the verbal backspace key.

"I have the utmost confidence in you my child. I have been a queen for many years and I know the qualities that make a good leader. Your kindness, acceptance, and patience are exactly what we need."

It's fair to say that Toriel might be a bit bias in her assessment of my qualities, but her words still ring true. The scars from the ancient war still ran deep in the subconscious of many monsters. And the only way to recovery was through acceptance on both sides.

Mettaton finished running a small circular brush through my eyelashes covering them in some kind of gooey black stuff.

"Okay, almost done, I just need to pick a perfect shade of eye shadow. One that matches your eyes and hair just right." Mettaton said. Pausing to look me over. "We have brown, and... more brown. Humm."

"How about a nice shade of green?" Toriel offered.

"In autumn? Absolutely not. It's bad enough she's going to be wearing a white dress after Labor Day."

"Um... what's labor day?" Toriel asks.

"I'm thinking, we go for contrast with a bright fire sapphire, or maybe a neutral copper or gold." Mettaton opens each of the eyeshadow pallets as he mentions them, holding them up to my face to see how they look.

"I like the blue." I say. I don't actually know if it will look better on me, but the color appeals.

"Really? That look might be just a little too... bold for you" Mettaton says. Squinting at me and then the blue powder.

I squint right back at him and frown, a friendly reminder of which of us was the unstoppable befriender of all who opposes them.

"Point taken."

I close my eyes and Mettaton carefully applies the shimmering powder to my eyelids. He matches the blue with an equally bright shade of red for my lips.

"J'ai fini!" he says with a flash of metal teeth. "And now for the moment we've all be waiting for. Bring in the dress!"

Toriel and I share a look of confusion. We wait for a moment, but nothing seems to be happening.

"Oh, sorry were you talking to me?" Toriel asks.

"Ideally, there would be servants or interns to help, but since we don't have ether, yes, I'm talking to you." Mettaton replied.

"Alright, I'll go fetch it then, would you mind taking the curlers out Mettaton?"

He sighed and nodded and Toriel left the room. She returned a moment later with a garment bag draped over her arm. She placed it on the kitchen table and unzipped it. At first it looked like a bunch of white and red fabric but as Toriel lifted it up by the shoulders, the shape of the dress became more pronounced.

The theme of the dress could roughly be summed up as 'ornamental bed sheet'. It had long elegant sleeves that were so wide around the wrists they had their own trains of fabric. The skirt flowed outward from the bodice, folding in on itself again and again before it reached the floor.

The only part of the dress that didn't have any excess fabric was the bust line. Which was cut high and ended with a belt around the waist. Presumably that was the ac point that held the rest of the loose material together.

What caught my eye the most though was the fine gold stitching on the chest. Aside from a few ribbons on the sleeves it was the closest thing to decoration the dress had. I recognize the symbol of course, how could I not, given all of Toriel's dresses had the delta rune inscribed on them in the exact same place.

"This was a gift from my mother for my coronation. I've been waiting to pass this on to a daughter for so many years. " Toriel explained.

"No kidding. That dress is so old it makes retro chic look avant garde." Mettaton scoffed.

Toriel gave him another look and he shrunk down behind my shoulder. Focusing on taking out the last of the curlers so he didn't have to meet her eye.

"It is a little old fashioned, but since humans and boss monsters have a similar body shape, I was hoping you would wear it. I took in a few of the seams and it should fit perfectly."

"Of course I will." I say. I stand up and walk over to Toriel. She passes the dress to me and I run a hand over the fabric. It's soft and light, like silk, but with more of a soft fuzzy touch to it.

I take the dress into my arms, careful not to wrinkle it.

"Oh, and once you have it on, attach this to the belt." Toriel says as she hands me a sheathe decorated with precious gemstones.

"I get a sword?" I ask. The golden hilt is sticking out of the top and I take hold of it. Despite its age the leather is still sturdy and it fits perfectly into the palm of my hand.

"It's ornamental only." Toriel clarified. She places her paw over my hand, stopping me from pulling the weapon out.

"It's from the days when the kings and queens of monsters were also the commanders of armies. But you should really only take it out when you're planning on knighting someone."

"I can knight people!"

I'm totally grinning now. I can't wait to tell Papyrus. I'm sure he'd love to become Sir. Papyrus. Maybe sans too, just so I can saddle him with a fancy title. Oh, and Dame Alphys. Undyne might already be a knight. I'll have to ask her.

"Well, after your coronation of course, and usually at a special ceremony. Though, I think you can do it anyplace you like if you want. It's been such a long while I can't really remember." Toriel replies.

"I hate to interrupt. But if someone doesn't get her gorgeous backside into that dress soon, we're going to blow right passed our deadline."

"Oh my, of course, Mettaton is right. The carriage will be here any moment."

They both look at me and I nod. I gather up the skirt and heading off to the bathroom to change.

As I close the door, I catch a glimpse of someone I don't recognize and do that little involuntary body jerk thing. A second later I realize it's only my reflection in the mirror. Or I think it is.

I wave my hand and the girl in the glass performs the same motion. So it's probably working.

My medium length brown hair usually resembles a cross between a mop and a shaggy Border Terrier, but somehow it had been persuaded into forming a waterfall of prefect ringlets. I pulled on the end of one and released. It bounces back into shape, then slid off the side of my forehead to hang in front of my eyes. I tucked it back and glare into the dark brown orbs framed in black eyeliner and blue shadow. Next to the bright blue my eyes look more black than brown.

Why had I chosen that stupid color anyway?

An image of a certain skeleton's hoodie pops into my head and I frowned at myself in a mirror. If this kept up I would need to buy myself a notebook to draw hearts all over.

Why did feelings have to hang around after they weren't wanted anyway? It only caused a whole lot of trouble for everyone involved and even got people killed. You'd think it would have been bred out of the gene pool at some point.

I fuss with the back of the dress, looking for a zipper, but all I can find is a row of tiny buttons. I guess that this dress must pre-date the invention of the zipper. I probably should have seen that one coming.

"Do you need any help in there, my child?" Toriel calls from the other side of the door.

The Frisk in the mirror gives me a reflection of my exasperated look.

"Yes…"

* * *

 

"Are you sure you're not peeking?"

I sigh deeply. Toriel is holding her fingers over my eyes, but she doesn't want to risk messing up my makeup so there's a gap between her pinky finger and my nose. Even if I was looking, which I wasn't, I could only see a sliver of the floor anyway.

"I'm not peeking!" I insist. I'm trying to keep from falling over as Toriel leads me around. She has been doing this since we got out of the literal wooden carriage we used to get wherever this was. At least monsters didn't have need for horses since they could power things with magic. Or it might have been smelly as well as incredibly corny.

"Come on Tori, I know it's going to be a surprise party. What else could it be on my birthday?" I ask.

Toriel makes a nonchalant humming noise that doesn't really mean anything. A classic mother question dodge. I sigh again and let her lead me further down what I think is a hallway.

I hear a set of doors opening. Then the telltale kind of silence you only hear when a very large group of people are trying to stay quiet, but can't quite hide the sound of rustling clothing and collective breathing.

Toriel lifts her hand from my eyes, but the cheer of "surprise!" hits me long before I can make out what my eyes are seeing.

Everyone is standing in front of me, and it's not an exaggeration. I'd never seen this many monsters gathered in one place. I'm not even sure where the heck I am. I didn't even know any buildings in the city that were big enough to have a ballroom like this.

I'm standing on the top of a stone staircase that seems only to exist to allow people to make grand entrances. Huge luminous crystals hang from the ceiling, glowing with brilliant light. If I had to take a guess there were nearly two hundred monsters in attendance, but there was still plenty of space to spare.

Toriel starts laughing. The look on my face must be priceless if it has any relation to what I'm feeling. I shut my mouth, and try to give my most regal-ish smile. I had thought the mauve dress Toriel changed into before we left looked suspiciously like a ball gown. Should have picked up on the hint then.

She took my hand in hers and we walk down the stairs together. I can feel everyone's eyes on us. I nervously adjust the tiara on my head, just in case it's slipped out of position on the ride over.

At least it no longer looked out of place now the rest of my appearance had been brought up to princess standards.

At the foot of the steps we met Asgore. Even though he had abdicated the throne to Toriel, he still had a whole closet full of formal clothing fit for a king. Well, armor crossed with clothing at any rate. His Gold plated pauldrons and breast plate were polished to a mirror shine.

He bowed as we approached. Toriel nudges me and I took the hint. I extend my arm and he took my tiny human hand in his huge paw, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles.

He stands back up again and I take a step forward, giving him a big hug around the middle. My arms are still too short to make it anywhere close to all the way around. But I know it's the thought that counts.

Asgore pats me lightly on the back and I step away.

"Happy birthday Frisk." Asgore says. "You're growing up so fast, it seems like just yesterday you were just taller than my knee!"

Given the lifespan of boss monsters, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true.

Someone is approaching us from the left and I turn to see Undyne and Alphys. Undyne is dressed in armor like Asgore, but she's wearing it on top of a sleek pink dress with a slit up the side. Alphys is wearing her old polka-dot number. It's just possible that it's the only dress she owns.

Undyne bows even deeper then Asgore and I extend my hand for her to kiss as well. Even if the royal guard isn't a thing anymore, I know she still takes a lot of pride in doing things the old way once and a while.

Undyne practically bounces to her feet afterwards, as full of energy as ever.

"Ahah! Oh man, if you had told me fifteen years ago that we would be crowning a human I would have been angry enough to punch through a wall!" she says.

Alphys gives her girlfriend a sideways glance.

"But you did punch through a wall?"

"That was out of excitement!"

I shake my head and laugh. Well, at least I know that if I have Undyne's approval, everyone else must agree as well.

"Oh, um... Frisk... Did Mettaton happen to tell you when he was planning to show up?" Alphys asks. "People keep asking me about him."

"I think he's planning to arrive fashionably late. Something along the lines of 'the party doesn't really start till I get there.'" I reply.

Alphys sighs. "Yeah, that's what I figured."

I'm being approached from the other side now. Everyone is here. They must be taking turns so I I'm not overloaded having to greet everyone at once.

My eyes meet Papyrus' eye sockets and my smile widens. He's dressed in a white suit with an orange dress shirt underneath it. I'm about to compliment him on it when I notice sans standing next to him.

"Fuck!" I scream. Startled into taking a step backwards.

"Frisk!" Toriel snaps.

"Fudge!" I amend.

Lucky were still near the staircase because I suddenly need to sit down. I plop back onto my pretty princess behind. Covering my open mouth with both hands.

"Sans, you're wearing a suit!" I exclaimed. I'm not sure whether I should laugh or just continue to stare in shock. It's a nice suit to, all black and fitted perfectly with a bow tie and everything.

"That's it, I'm defiantly dreaming." I say getting to my feet. "Undyne, please punch me. I want to wake up now."

Undyne shrugs and punches me on the shoulder hard enough to knock me right back onto my previously mentioned behind.

**HP 15/20**

"Okay, ow…" I mutter. Pushing myself off the floor with my elbows. Sans is standing over me, offering his hand for the second time today.

"are you done now?" he asks.

"Can I scream one more time?" I counter, letting him pull me back onto my feet. At this rate poor Tori's dress isn't going to survive this night in one piece.

"sure."

I take a deep breath in.

"Holy sh-" I catch Toriel's eye mid syllable and slam the gearshift. "-irt"

"Okay, I'm done."

I turn my attention back to the taller brother.

"Papyrus, are you responsible for this black magic?" I ask.

"YES! THOUGH, IT WASN'T BLACK MAGIC. I'LL I HAD TO DO WAS ASK NICELY!"

"well, it is for your birthday after all." Sans agrees.

I laugh and hug the two of them. I lift my head up after and glance around at all my friends.

"Oh wait, we should have a group hug!" I decide. We might not be all together again for a while. So best to do it now.

Toriel waves to a monster with large a camera around his neck. He looks like a professional photographer. No doubt this night was going to get its own scrapbook.

Everyone falls into place with me in the center. Shorter monsters (and human) at the front. I end up with my arms wrapped around sans and Alphys, leaning over so our heads are all at the same height. Papyrus and Undyne are behind us with Toriel and Asgore on either side.

"Okay. On the count of three everyone hug." I instruct them.

"One… two… three!"

* * *

 

I'd never been to a party this large before, never mind being the focus of one. At first I was worried I would be swamped all night talking to people I had barely met. And while there was plenty of that, especially in the first twenty minutes, I soon discovered that once a party got to a certain size it was practically self-sustaining.

The bandstand in the middle of the ballroom played away, and monsters cycled on and off the dance floor. Others hovered around the big tables heaped with finger food or clustered together in small groups to chat.

It was easy enough to slip away when no one was watching. For a little while anyway. I only wanted to see what the rest of this building looked like. Maybe test out a few suspicions.

The hallways leading to the ballroom had very high ceilings and were decorated with paintings of monsters sitting in fancy chairs and dressed in old fashioned clothing. They could be past kings and queens, but not all of them were boss monsters, so maybe not.

I stop at a three way intersection, unsure which way I should try next. A gust of wind ruffles the hem of my skirt. It's more than what the other two empty hallways are giving me, so I decide to follow it.

Halfway to the next turn the blank walls on my right give way to huge picture windows looking out on a garden. On closer inspection, the windows turn out to be huge glass doors. I push the nearest one open and step out into the cool night air.

The first thing I do is look up. I stare into the inky blackness over my head. Not a single star in sight or any trace of a moon.

So I was right, we were underground. I take a few steps back, looking at the building I had just exited. I was still a little too close to see all of it, but I was reasonably sure that the whole of the grand hall was carved out of the side of the cavern itself. That would sure explain all the polished stone.

I guess there were lots of treasures of monster history that couldn't be moved to the surface, and this was one of them.

Satisfied, I turn my attention back to the garden. It doesn't look much like any garden I've ever seen. The plants here must all be native to the underground. I recognised a bed of echo flowers planted around the bend in the artificial stream bisecting the garden.

If you listened closely you could hear the flowers whispering to one another, sharing the secrets they had heard. I decide to stay clear of them and follow the path along the river up through some impressively large fern plants.

There's a fountain just up ahead. It's old and covered with moss, but it's working just fine. It has a few equally moss-covered gray stone benches placed around it, so you can sit and watch the water flow off the layer tiers of the fountain and back into the river.

I pick out a spot without any moss so I don't stain my dress and take a seat. I lean back and gaze up at the cavern roof again. It is a little depressing not being able to see the stars. With this pure blackness, would you start to wonder if there was more out there? If I had been born a monster I might not even believed there was a surface.

"are you lost, your majesty?"

I startle and turn, expecting to see some kind of palace guard or one of the guests, but to my relief it's just sans. He's standing in the shadow of one of the largest ferns.

"Oh! Sans, it's just you. Were you following me?" I ask. Then the other half of his greeting sinks in and I feel my heart drop a bit. "I'm pretty sure I told you not to call me that."

Sans shrugs and walks over. He sits beside me on my little bench and I shift closer to him.

"just trying it out, it doesn't seem to fit you though." Sans explains.

"You're telling me." I agree with a sigh.

"hey, frisk."

"Yeah."

"do you even want to be a princess?"

I can't help but smile a bit. It was just like him to cut right to the point.

"I don't know…" I admit. "I want to do whatever I can to help. I owe it to them."

"oh, do you now? For what exactly?"

This time he catches me off guard, the answers seemed so obvious I never stopped to think about them.

"You know, everything! The barrier, the war, a thousand years of banishment… Asriel. "

"so, just to get this straight. you're trying to make up for the mistakes of your entire species, and the death of a prince you lived hundreds of years before you were even born?"

"Well it sounds stupid when you put it like that."

"It sounds stupid no matter what way you put it."

I sigh and carefully prise the crown from my head. Pulling on a few of my curls in the process. Everything about me that looks even remotely princess-like is all going to vanish the moment I step in a shower tonight. Just like taking off a mask after playing a part in the theater.

I place it in my lap and glance over at sans. I'm still not over how different he looks in that suit. If I saw him from a distance I might not even recognize him.

I wonder if he's thinking the same thing about me too.

"look. you've got plenty of time to decide." Sans adds. "but in the end, i want you to make the decision, instead of sitting back and letting other people decide for you."

I wrap my arms around my middle and stare at my feet even though they're hidden under the folds of my dress.

"What other choices do I have?" I ask.

"dunno, you're a big girl now though. There must be something you want."

The first thought that pops into my head is 'I want you.' I bit down on my tongue, as if just thinking the words will somehow make them fly out of my mouth. I was a little disgusted with myself actually. He was trying to give me advice and I was off in romantic lala land.

I could blame sans a little bit though. He had been the one to suggest the idea to me in the first place, just not in this timeline.

But then, hadn't I already decided this was a bad idea, anyway? Twice actually.

"it's okay to be a bit selfish, you know." Sans continues. "do a few things just because you want to, and damn the consequences. that's the only way you're ever going to figure out who you really are."

I look up and meet the white glow of his eyes. I know he's talking about my life in general. But after the thoughts I was just having…

"get out there and make a few mistakes. try new things. and if they don't work out? well, just move on to something else. as long as you don't make the worst mistake of never having the guts to try."

I swallow, suddenly my mouth feels really dry and my heart is racing. This has to be a coincidence. But then, would it even matter? The advice would be the same no matter what he was talking about.

I hadn't noticed before, but our hands are really close to one another. Resting on the bench side by side. I move mine, resting my soft, fleshy fingers over his skeletal ones.

"Hey, sans?"

"yeah."

"What if I wanted to do something selfish right now?"

There's a pause. Sans doesn't know how to answer my question. I don't even know what I'm on about.

He's going to make me explain myself in a moment. So, I'm fucked no matter what. Might as well dig deeper.

I lean over and press my lips against his mouth. In hindsight, I probably should have thought more about the mechanics of kissing a skeleton, but it all seems to work out pretty well regardless. Though I'd never kissed anyone like this before anyway, so what the hell did I know?

Sans's other hand pressed lightly against my chest. Just hard enough to separate us. The dizzy haze I had lost myself in dissipated so quickly, it felt like someone had just poured a bucket of ice water over me.

I stared at sans for a moment. Was he angry? Oh no. he was angry, wasn't he? I did it again. After all that I ruined everything for the second time in a row. After promising myself I wouldn't. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I needed to load. To make this all go away. But I couldn't do it here.

Panic took over, and I leapt backwards, nearly tripping over my skirt in my rush to get up. I snatched up as much of it as I could, anything to get it away from my feet. I can't bring myself to look at him so I just turn and run.

I think I hear sans calling my name but it doesn't make me stop. I clutch my skirt harder and just manage to duck in time to get under a collection of hanging vines. I need to find someplace to hide, someplace I can focus.

My shoes make loud crunching sounds on the gravel path. Behind me, I hear footsteps echoing mine. Is sans really chasing me? I summon up all my strength, relying on adrenaline and fear to move faster. The footsteps are getting closer and… it sounds like there's more than just two feet. In fact, they don't sound human at all.

Something half my height and pure white flashes past me. Moving at a speed I couldn't hope to match. It skids against the gravel road and turns to face me. It's a dog. A dog skeleton at any rate.

It plants its back paws into the dirt. Its pale glowing eyes are staring right through me. I've never seen this type of monster before. If it is even a monster. But something about it strikes primal fear into my heart.

I slow down as I get closer to it until I lapse into a dead halt. I try to go around it, but the dog follows my movements. It's faster than I am, there's no way I'm going to get around it if it doesn't want me to. It takes a slow step towards me. My hand flies to my belt and around the handle of the decorative sword Toriel gave me.

I slide it from the sheathe and hold it in front of my chest. It's totally dull and so flimsy the blade practically wobbles when I move it. If push comes to shove though, that won't matter. The weapon is only a conduit for my real power.

I don't want to hurt it tough. My right hand begins to tremble, what the hell am I even doing? Just something about this dog makes me feel…

"you dropped this."

I let out a yelp and my sword clatters against the gravel. I turn and sans is standing behind me. He's holding my tiara in his hand. It's got a few pieces of moss clinging to it, but otherwise it seems fine.

I reach out to take it from him and he grabs my wrist. His finger bones tightening so I can't pull away.

"i think you and i need to sit down and talk for a bit."

This is it. I need to load now. There's no other choice. I screw my eyes shut. Reaching out for my SAVE file. The crisp evening. The city streets. The calm assurance everything was going to be alright.

"frisk."

Sans tugs on my arm, breaking my concentration.

"sans I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I won't let it happen again, I promise I won't. I just need another chance."

Sans stares at me for a good long moment. I get the feeling the pause is for my benefit and not because he's thinking.

"all i said was i wanted to talk." He reminds me. He takes a deep breath and let's go of my arm.

"I have another bit of advice for you about making mistakes. If you don't own up and face them, you'll just end up making them over and over and over."

My hands clench into fists. Maybe he's right. I mean we've already been here before haven't we? Is it really going to be different the third time around? Even knowing how badly it could turn out, I still couldn't help myself.

Even if I made it through today, there was always tomorrow. Then the day after that and the day after that. I was always one little slip up from this point. Maybe I could keep it up until I stopped caring, but would it even be worth the effort?

"Okay." I murmur, unable to lift my eyes any higher than our feet. "I'm so sorry…"

"hello so sorry, i'm sans."

"Ahhhh!"

I was just on the edge of crying but now I'm not sure if I should laugh or scream at him. Probably both in either order.

"Oh you're the worst!"

"you love it."

I wanted to say 'Yeah, that's the whole problem' but I keep my mouth shut.

* * *

 

I lean back against the bark of a sturdy willow tree. I always liked them, mostly because its branches bent forward enough to make a small secluded space. The only way in or out was through the curtain of leaves. Like crossing over a barrier to a magical world.

Sans sat down beside me on the grass, taking a moment to cross his legs and get comfortable.

The quiet walk over had steadied my nerves a lot. But the anxiety was starting to crawl back the longer I spent waiting for something to happen.

Sans looked at me. Then over at the trunk of the tree. He reached over and lightly rapped his knuckles against the bark.

It took me a second to figure out what he was doing, but as soon as I did, I answered.

"Who's there?"

"doris"

"Doris, who?"

"doris locked so that's why i'm knocking."

I let out a little snort and about one fourth of a smile. The joke might not be funny, but it makes me feel better just knowing he's trying to cheer me up.

"okay, how about this one. did you hear about the fire at the circus?" he asks.

I shake my head no, bracing myself for the answer.

"It was in tents."

This time he gets a proper chuckle, a small one at least. I hug my knees to my chest. As much as I would like to spend the rest of the night listening to his jokes, I really want to get the hard part over with.

"sans?"

"Alright, enough for now." He agrees.

There's an awkward pause. I was expecting sans to say something, but the more I think about it the more I realize how difficult this all is. I bet it took a lot of courage for him to approach me the first time, and now I'm putting all the pressure on him again.

"Maybe I should start?" I offer.

Sans thinks about it for a second, then nods.

I know that if I deliberate about it any longer I won't be able to do it. So I brace myself and launch right in.

"Okay, so I've been thinking about this a lot and I've already come up with all the reasons why this is a really bad idea. First, there's the fact that you're a lot older than me, at least I think that's it. I don't really know how monster years compare to human ones. But in the literal sense it's true no matter what… And, you've also known me since I was a kid, so maybe that makes it awkward, and sometimes I feel like you still think of me as a little girl. Which is understandable, since like I mentioned, your lifespan is so much longer than mine, maybe I'll always be little compared to you. And then there's all the other physical differences between monsters and humans and I have absolutely no idea how any of that is supposed to work out. Well… I have a few ideas, but they're kind of weird. "

I have to pause to take a deep breath. Sans is looking at me kind of funny, so I think I better skip to the point.

"-But even knowing all of that, I still feel like I want to give it a try. Just so long as, no matter what, we'll still be friends."

Sans doesn't say anything. He just keeps staring at me.

"s-sans?" I murmur. Dread is starting to sink in the longer he stays silent.

"oh, sorry. i was just thinking about the quiet little girl who didn't talk much. you know, the one who fell into the underground? i wonder what happened to her."

I scrunch up my nose a scowl at him and sans starts laughing.

"ah, only kidding." He explains. He shifts from cross legged to his knees and opens his arms wide.

"okay."

"Okay, what?" I ask, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"okay, lets do it."

"Really?"

"well, there's no way i'm going to beat that confession. so, yeah, really."

The smile that splits my face is so wide it almost hurts. I spring forward and wrap my arms tightly around his middle. I feel like rolling around in the grass, but I think that might be a little too much even for me.

"let's put it on the list of things to try before your coronation." Sans offers. He hugs me back, one of his skeletal hands curving around my hip.

"But what… what about all the things I said?" I ask.

"they've been noted. but i think they can wait. we can take them on one at a time. cuz, that's way too much for me to deal with in one go." He replies.

I can't really fault him for that one. Just talking about it all made me feel tired.

"But even if it doesn't work out…" I say. I don't really want to finish, but he must know what I mean.

"papyrus would never stand for it. even if we can't work it out, he'll just lock us in a room till it's fixed." Sans replies. My chin is resting on his shoulder so when he shrugs, I feel it.

"Yeah, good point."

We separate and I feel like I could just collapse on the grass. My dress is probably already covered in green splotches, so I give in, and land flat on my back. I close my eyes, the stupid happy grin still plastered all over my face.

"so… want to go to grillby's?" sans asks.

I blink up at the canopy of leaves over our heads. Now that he mentions it, I am absolutely starving. I didn't get to eat dinner because of the makeover and I didn't stick around long enough to have any of the food at the party.

"What, dressed like this?" I counter. Sitting up and gesturing to our matching sets of fancy dress.

"i'm sure ketchup stains aren't that hard to clean out." Sans says.

"Okay, sure." I decide, standing up and pausing to brush off as much of the dirt and grass blades and dirt, and let me guess, you know a shortcut?"

"of course. i'm sure we'll be back long before anyone misses us."

I take sans' hand and let him take the lead, but then I stop in my tracks a second later.

"Oh, actually there's one last thing I need to do."

I stand back and take a very deep breath.

Finally getting the weight of confession off my chest fills me with determination.

**Frisk       LV 1          135784:15:45**

**Grand Ballroom – Gardens**

**File saved.**

"Okay, all done. Let's go."

* * *

We were quite the sight as we walk into the small corner side bar holding hands and smiling. The tiara is back on my head and I'm holding up the side of my skirt with all the grace of my not-so-official status.

We walk right up to the bar and sit down in our usual stools. Despite being moved all the way from the underground to the surface city, this bar hasn't changed one bit. Sans makes a little hand gesture to signal Grillby and orders our usual hamburgers and fries.

The flaming bartender vanishes into the back room and comes out a suspiciously short time later with our food.

I can't help but notice that he's carrying one more plate than usual, and when he sets them down in front of us I discover the third plate has a tiny cake on it. There's red frosting on the top, spelling out a simple message in almost illegible handwriting.

hAPPy biRTHdAy frIsk

I look at the cake, then up to sans and back at the cake again. How in the world. Did he somehow know we were going to end up here? Had sans planned this entire thing, or was this just a stroke of luck?

He kept smiling at me, probably enjoying the dumbfounded look on my face. I decide it's only fair if I should get some revenge of my own.

I grab the front of his bow tie and pull him into a kiss. This time he presses back and threads his fingers into my temporarily curly hair.


End file.
